Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Actors urge HU students to register to vote

Marlon Wayans called for a registration party, a voting party and an Obama victory party.


HAMPTON - Actor and comedian Marlon Wayans admitted to Hampton University students that he didn't vote in the last two presidential elections.

"Bush is my fault," he told them. "The economy is my fault."

Now he's on a tour of Virginia colleges to make sure that win or lose, he did everything he could to get Democratic nominee Barack Obama elected.

Wayans, brother of comedian-actors Damon Wayans and Keenan Ivory Wayans, might be best known for his roles in the films "White Chicks" and "Scary Movie."

He campaigned at HU on Friday along with actress Jurnee Smollett, who starred with Denzel Washington in the 2007 movie "The Great Debaters."

Together, they urged hundreds of HU students to meet Virginia's Oct. 6 voter registration deadline. New and out-of-state voters were encouraged to register in Virginia, a battleground state.

Smollett led a chant of "Take the state" in a packed student center, where hundreds of students listened intently as the two spoke.

Don't vote for Obama because he is black, Wayans told them, vote for him because of his policies.

"Barack comes from people like us, and always has our best interest at heart," he said.

Smollett expanded on the Illinois senator's policies, saying Obama would give every college student a $4,000 tax credit, and raise the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2011.

"Make sure we get that brother in office," Wayans said. "Our economy is hurting ... this is not a black and white issue — this is a red, white and blue issue."

The pair stopped at HU after speaking at Virginia State University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia, said Clark Stevens, spokesman for the Campaign for Change, a project of the Democratic Party of Virginia.

Wayans encouraged students to have at least three parties — a registration party before Oct.6, a voting party on Nov. 4 and a "Barack is our president" party on Nov. 5.

"As Americans, we've got to take back this country," he said. "I wasn't around during the civil rights movement. This is my civil right, and this is our turn, and this is something we can tell our kids about — a black president."

Moses Wilson, HU senior class president and the state's coordinator for Students for Barack Obama, said the group registered 270 HU freshman last week, and will compete against Howard University today to register the highest number of voters before and during the rivals' football game in Hampton.


Source: http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/hampton/dp-local_campaign_0913sep13,0,2543524.story

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